Evaluation of Adult Reconstruction and Arthroplasty Fellowships in the United States Based on Academic Productivity

Background: Institutional academic productivity varies on an individual level. This study aims to analyze the research output of adult reconstruction and arthroplasty fellowship programs in the United States. Methods: The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Fellowship Directory was used to evaluate 112 adult reconstruction and arthroplasty fellowships in the United States. Publication data and Hirsch index (h-index) were collected from the Scopus Database. All of each author's total publications were analyzed with their current institution, regardless of their affiliation at the time of publication. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to determine the effect of program size on research productivity. Results: The total number of publications per institution ranged from 2 to 3743, with a mean of 289 and a median of 135. The h-index of individual faculty members ranged from 0 to 103, with a mean of 16 and a median of 11. The number of faculty (P < .001) and number of fellows (P = .003) per program had a significant effect on the total number of publications. The number of faculty did not have a significant effect on the median number of publications (P = .12) or the median h-index (P = .31). The number of fellows had a significant effect on the median number of publications (P < .001) and the median h-index (P < .001). Conclusions: Academic productivity in adult reconstruction and arthroplasty fellowships within the United States varies widely, with the top few institutions responsible for a majority of the overall output. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).